Pangasinan still zero on poll violence
EIGHT days before voters troop to their polling places, peace appears to be holding in the province that has several towns and cities classified as “hot spots”.
According to the Commission on Election’s provincial officer Reddy Balarbar, the zero-violence card was confirmed by the provincial police at a briefing by Police Provincial Director Percival Barba.
In addition, there are now only 12 towns tagged as election watch-list areas (EWA) down from 16 listed initially.
The briefing was attended by representatives of the Parish Council for Responsible Voting and Armed Forces of the Philippines.
One incident in Sta. Maria that involved the shooting of the town’s municipal election officer was earlier reported as an election-related but this was eventually determined to be result of a personal grudge between the victim and the suspect.
The police, however, reported that the number of firearms seized and confiscated in the implementation of the gun ban continues to rise. All were seized from gun-toting civilians and bodyguards of politicians.
Among those arrested by the police were six men believed to be under the employ of a vice mayoralty candidate in Tayug.
But even as the numbers of EWAs have decreased, the police said partisan armed groups (PAG) remain active in six towns.
Barba, however, was quick to add that the PAGs no longer pose serious threats since most have been neutralized in several police operations.
Two members of a known PAG in Balungao were killed in a shootout with the police after they rammed a police checkpoint in Rosales.–LM
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